Back from Vacation & Savings

Despite getting terribly sick right before my vacation (I ended up taking off Tuesday and Wednesday as sick days), I had a great time in Ft. Myers. I only made it to one Red Sox game, but I spent ample time relaxing and on the beach so I feel the trip was a success. And, I spent way less than what I had budgeted for outlet shopping. I had planned to replenish my wardrobe in a major way, but I bought four shirts for a total of less than $50 at the J. Crew outlet and that was it. Crazy.

I updated my savings sidebars just now, and it's exciting to see that I'm back on track with my savings. I should have my fun fund maxed out by the end of April, or mid-May at the latest. I'm also going to start making weekly deposits into my 2009 Roth so that I can max it out by the end of the year. I think weekly is the way to go, since the market is so insane right now. May as well try to capitalize on some good old dollar cost averaging, rather than dumping the money in only to see the value plummet the next day, which is exactly what happened to me when I invested in a new mutual fund for the first $3,000 of my 2009 Roth. BAH.

Spending on Hobbies

Without question, my number one hobby is reading. I learned to read at age four, and I've loved it ever since. One of my goals for 2009 was to read 40 books. I'm well on my way to achieving this goal; as of this week, I've read eight books, and I'm hoping to finish the book I'm currently reading, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, sometime early next week so I can start a new book for my vacation.

I don't spend much money on books. Most of what I read is borrowed from the library, or purchased used (usually from the $1 rack) at my favourite local used book store, or at yard sales. I've thought of joining PaperBack Swap, but I'm not so sure. I really don't have that many books in my apartment, since I mostly borrow from the library, so I'm not sure how worthwhile this would be for me. I guess I could stock up on a few $1 books that I think people would want so that I can swap, but for now I think I'll continue on with my library loans and cheap used books (and reading the dozen or so books I own but haven't read yet).

Around Christmas I began a new hobby: knitting. Another one of my goals for this year was to complete at least three knitting projects, and so far I've finished one project and begun my second: a pair of baby booties for my cousin's baby, due at the end of March. I went to a small knitting shop earlier this week to pick up the supplies I'd need for this project, and was shocked to hear the total: $36 for a set of double-pointed needles and two skeins of yarn! I felt OK about it, because I was purchasing from a small business that's probably struggling to pay their rent in a really high-end part of town, and because I knew I would probably never go back there again, and will make all knitting purchases at large craft stores or online, where things are much more affordable.

I hadn't previously purchased any knitting supplies (C had bought the needles and yarn I used for the scarf as a Christmas present for me), so the prices really shocked me. The last thing I want is an expensive hobby that's going to siphon money away from my savings and debt reduction goals, but at the same time I really enjoy knitting and have no plans to give it up. As I said, I can definitely get knitting supplies for cheaper by shopping at large craft stores or ordering online. I'm also going to keep my eye out on craigslist (and maybe eBay), and look around at yard sales throughout the summer. Using these tactics, I think I'll definitely be able to keep my spending low.

What Should I Do with Birthday Money?

About a month ago, I turned 26. This weekend, I received some belated birthday gifts from my godfather and my grandparents: my grandparents gave me $50, and my godfather gave me a check for $100. My godfather and aunt also gave me a $100 giftcard to Lord & Taylor.

Normally, I'd throw the money into my savings. However, January is one of the two months this year in which I receive an "extra" paycheck from the inn (my full-time job pays semi-monthly. bah). So, I'm already over-contributing to my savings this month.

I could use it to further pay down my student loan debt -- in fact, that's what I did with some of my "extra paycheck" money earlier this month. This is still a possibility.

I could use the money to buy something for myself, but there really isn't anything I need right now. And, I have the Lord & Taylor giftcard to spend as well, so I'd rather not spend all of money on STUFF.

I think I'll put an extra $50 towards my federal loan next month. I'll also put $25 extra into my downpayment fund and emergency fund, and put the other $50 into my fun fund. I'm going on vacation at the end of Februrary (more about that later), so I can use that money for any outings or the many outlet shopping trips I'm panning.

It's about time, Mint!

When I heard about Mint late in 2007, I eagerly signed up right away. I'd been using Quicken on my old laptop, but when my laptop abruptly stopped working, I was looking for a new way to manage my budget and spending. Mint sounded ideal because it links to your accounts and automatically tracks your spending without you having to go in and manually enter all of your transactions.

I successfully added my accounts to Mint, with one exception: Citizens Bank. Though I've moved to ING for my savings accounts and CDs, I still use Citizens for my checking and do most of my spending with my debit card. Without support for Citizens, Mint was pretty useless to me. I signed in every couple of months, hoping Citizens would work, but it never did. I logged into Mint a couple of days ago to check things out, and I was thrilled to see that Citizens Bank is now functional...finally! I excitedly spent the better part of an hour going through my spending for the past couple of months, tagging and untagging transactions (yes, I am a total nerd.) I still haven't figured out the best way to log deposits into my ING savings accounts (both Citizens and ING log these, and it doesn't end up making sense), but I'll get it eventually.

Mint is almost perfect now, except for the Investments tool -- it's still way off in tracking your totals for investments and gains/losses, even when you add price paid per transaction for individual mutual funds/stocks. I'm not sure what the problem is, but I have full confidence that one day (even if it's not until next January) I'll log in and everything will work as it should.

I'm so glad it's Christmas vacation!

Due to the fact that my company doesn't allow us to roll over unused personal/vacation time, I usually wind up taking off time at the end of the year. This year, because of Christmas and New Year's falling mid-week, I only have to use six days to get the last two weeks of the year off, so here I am with two weeks off. :)

I spent my first day off (today) finishing up some last minute shopping. The sales at the Gap were insane! I can only imagine that their post-Christmas sale will be even better. I wanted to buy everything in sight (for me and for C), but I resisted and just bought a couple of small gifts.

The rest of the day was spent wrapping C's gifts, and baking peppermint bark chocolate chip cookies. I've never actually baked anything from scratch before, but it was amazingly simple. I baked one sheet of cookies to make sure they came out well, and froze the rest of the dough. I'm going to bake the rest next weekend and give them as stocking stuffers for my fellow innkeepers at our holiday party next Sunday.

C is coming over tonight for dinner and to eat some of my test cookies, and we're going to enjoy some wine and watch Christmas Vacation. We're treating ourselves to pizza, too. We haven't gone out to eat in weeks and neither of us feels particularly like cooking tonight, especially me since I've been baking all day and have a sink full of dishes to wash before C gets here.

The cost of social outings

Yesterday was my office holiday party. Yes, we have our holiday party mid-week in the afternoon; it was pretty boring, but the half day was nice. :)

After the party, a bunch of us went to a couple of bars in the area. I didn't really want to spend money, but I went along anyway. I did end up buying one beer, but after I realized that a draft beer was $7, I decided to wait until the next bar to get a second drink. Hard to believe, but when we arrived at the second bar, it was even more expensive than the first! Martinis and the like were around $15, and beer was $9. I quickly decided to just go home, because there is no way I can justify spending like that.

In the large group of co-workers I was with, I know that only a couple make slightly more than I do, and the rest make about the same as me or less. Yet, they all felt it was perfectly normal to go out and spend this kind of money on drinks. In fact, I know some of them do it regularly. They've invited me to go out with them after work several times, but I always turn down the invitations. I like my co-workers, but I just can't understand their mindset at all. These are the same women who are constantly sporting stylish new clothes, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but it troubles me that most of the people I know in my age range spend money like this as a matter of course.

Blowing Through My Budget

I'm totally failing to follow my budget this month. I've already gone over on my dining ($50) and entertainment (drinking at bars, movie rentals, etc. -- $30) budgets. Even my grocery budget ($150) seems impossible this month. And these are *budgeted* items; I made an $84 purchase online the other day at the Gap and Old Navy; yesterday I went to the eye doctor for the first time since college, and wound up paying $250 for the exam and new glasses/lenses.

My spending isn't out of control, but I'm having a hard time sticking to the limits I set for myself, which is frustrating. I usually go out to eat once a week with C, and we either split it or take turns paying. This usually winds up being $50 or less per month, but we've been to a few places that are a bit more pricey this month. And we're planning to go to a tapas restaurant this weekend! It won't break the bank (we have a $10 gift card, so it will come to less than $25 total, tip included), and C may pay anyway, but still, this needs to stop. After this weekend I'm telling C we have to limit our dining out majorly in December. We have Christmas gifts to buy, after all.